10 comes to you through the courtesy of your

,i
r'
35TH YEAR OF PUBLICATION
50¢
BODY LANGUAGE IN THE DENTAL OFFICE
,
Oal'UAO]
......
,..
Doctor,
10 comes to you through the courtesy of your
Ticonium Laboratory.
An award-winning dental journal
devoted to the dental teamdoctor, hygienist, assistant, and
laboratory.
DENTAL UNION IN NEW JERSEY
The first dental union in New Jersey has been established by a group of dentists and dental assistants
"unhappy" with the New Jersey State Dental Society.
The union, part of the AFL-CIO, started with 52 dentists and is out to increase its membership from the
5,000 dentists in the state. Dr. Robert H. Levine,
president of the union, was particularly critical of the
state society for its inaction when Medicaid fees to
dentists were cut. He feels that dentists will fare better under the union because as part of some 750,000
members of the trade union in that state it will have
more clout in dealing with the problems facing the
profession. Costs for union membership will be appreciably less than national, state, and county dues,
according to the union spokesman. Dr. Levine also
stated in a newspaper interview that the union would
not condone strikes by dentists since dentists must
maintain their professional responsibility to the public.
A spokesman for the state society expressed doubt
that any pledge not to strike could be maintained by
the union since it would leave them powerless to act
in any dispute and felt that the state society could
better deal with all problems facing the dental profession than the unions. It remains to be seen whether
the union will make any future headway in the Garden State.
COMBATTING JET LAG
With the increase in air travel across the nation
and to foreign countries, jet lag had become a well
publicized phenomenon. However, Dr. Joseph Constanino, medical director for one of the major air
lines, believes that the "condition can be easily conquered, if not controlled." A recognized authority in
aviation medicine, he recommends the following tips
to overcome jet lag:
( 1) A void rushing to the airport for your flight.
Leave in plenty of time so that you don't arrive at the
airport exhausted and worn-out before you take off.
(2) Don't overpack. There is an old saying among
seasoned travelers that you are never sorry for the
things you leave behind, only for the extra things
you've taken. Excessive luggage can cause unnecessary fatigue if you have to carry your own luggage
even for short distances. Coupled with the time change
in long flights, fatigue can add to your jet lag discomfort.
(3) Wear loose-fitting clothes in flight. Never wear
a tie and keep your collar open. Loose clothing gives
your skin a chance to breathe. It is also advisable to
remove your shoes when flying to help circulation in
your feet.
(4) Eat and drink sparingly. Although some of
the airlines offer gourmet meals and drinks are always
available, take it easy. Excess drinking or eating can
16
ic
increase the heart beat and this makes sleeping difficult both in flight and on your first night upon landing. Sleeping while flying long distances is most important to combat the "change-of-time" fatigue. Try
to sleep as much as you can while in the air and you
will have a better sense of well-being after you land.
(5) Take it easy on the first day of your arrival.
The idea of "taking it all in" usuaJIy results in missing
much on your tour. Don't schedule too many activities the first day. You'll enjoy your itinerary more if
you don't overexert yourself upon arrival.
BODY LANGUAGE
Published monthly by TlCONIUM COMPANY
Division of CMP Industries, Inc., Albany, New York
Editor
Contributing
Editors
Cover Artist
in the Dental Office
Joseph Strack
Arthur S. Freese, D.D.S.
Arthur H. levine, D.D.S.
Maurice J. Teitelbaum. D.D.S.
Edward Kasper
OCTOBER 1976 VOL. XXXV NO. 10
"
STUDENTS LEARN HYPNOSIS
An authority explains why it is an important factor in patient management
today __ .
REMOVING (EMENTED CROWNS AND BRIDGES
WITHOUT DESTROYING THEM
" the second most important problem in
restorative dentistry"
4
27·GAUGE SHORT
5
The case for the short needle
BOOKS
What makes these reviews so interesting? Because Book Critic Arthur S. Freese
evaluates books from the viewpoints of
a dentist and an author-for he is both
6
DENTISTRY'S "RARE BIRDS"
" Female denti sts are rare birds whose
flock only recently has begun to multiply. " Here are profiles of four of loday's
women in dentistry
8
"YOU'RE FIRED!"
,IIA. R.D .D.s.
N\OR5~
Before you utter those words, doctor,
you had better learn the new ground
rules for dismissng an employee
1/
PRAcrlCE
LIMITED TO
• . CUSPIDS
. !L=-0WER ~LY)
jf
11
DOUBLE DUTY DOORBELlS
You will be interested i n these for office
and/or home
,
12
ANGLES AND IMPRESSIONS
One of the best columnists and commentators in the profession
.
<,
1881
15
MBER~JBUCArION
AMERICAN A1fJSOCIAH()N Of Of NTA.L EDITORS
Send editorial contr ibutions and correspondence to Joseph
Strack, Box 407, North Chatham, N.Y. 12132; change·of·
address notices to Circulation Manager, TIC. Box 350. Albany,
N.Y. 12201
"HE DECIDED TO SPECIALIZE IN ROOT CANAL,
THEN CROWN AND BRIDGE. THEN HE GOT MORE
AND MORE SPECIALIZED, UNTIL FINALLY . . ."
TIC r OCTOBER r 1976
TIC is microfilmed by University Microfilms, inc., 300 N. Zeeb Road,
Ann Arbor, Michigan 48106. TIC's International Standard Serial
Number is' US ISSN 0040·6716 TIC.
Copyright, 1976, Ticonium Company, DiviSion of CM? Industries, Inc.,
413 North Pearl St .• Aibany, New York 12207
Op inions expressed by con tributors to TIC do not necessarily reflect
the views of the publ ishers.
Printed In U.S.A. by Jersey Print ing Co., Inc., Bayonne, N.J.
Annual Subscription, $5.00
TIC, OCTOBER , 1976
HOW TO READ A PATIENT'S NONVERBAL
CLUES
by T. Harrell Allen, Ph.D.
CONTENTS
BODY LANGUAGE IN THE DENTAL OFFICE
Hypnosis is offered as an elective course to senior
dental students at Temple University School of Dentistry. Dr. Louis Dubin, clinical associate professor of
community dentistry and co-director of the course,
feels that students can learn to deal with patients'
anxiety and pain through hypnosis. According to
Dr. Dubin: "It is a way for the dentist to relate to
a patient. We don't want hypnosis used merely as
another tool, like an x-ray. Our prime concern is the
dentist-patient relationship, although with hypnosis
come fringe benefits, such as reduction of anxiety,
tension, fear and control of pain." Hypnosis can be
used separately or in conjunction with anesthetic
agents. Students learn how to screen patients for hypnosis, how to evaluate themselves in relationship to
the patient, technical skills, and the legal aspect of
hypnosis. Each student takes turns as hypnotist and
subject.
/;
An award·winning
magazine for Dentistsr
Dental Assistants. and
Dental Hygienists
Although dental disease ranks among the most common and
serious of American health problems, millions of Americans still
avoid regular visits to a dentist. Why? They are afraid of a nerveracking, painful experience. While these fears should be lessened
by the new techniques, materials, and instruments developed in recent years, many patients still approach a dental chair as if it were
a death bed.
The patient's fears are expressed nonverbally-the quick intake
of breath, grim facial expression, hands knotted in tight fists . Nonverbal cues are often more important than verbal ones. Not only
can they be more accurate, but nonverbal cues are even responsible
for 65 percent of the effect of any verbal message.
Nonverbal communication is particularly important to the dentist. Patients probably judge the success of their dentist not on his
professional ability but on their personal interaction with him. If
they perceive him to be warm, friendly, and sympathetic to their
problems, chances are they will recommend and praise him to neighbors and friends. Dentists who can read the nonverbal feedback of
their patients are more likely to achieve this image with their patients.
The principal areas of nonverbal feedback come from the posture,
face, eyes, and hands of the patient. The tension and nervousness
of the patient will be expressed in at least one of these areas. As the
treatment progresses, the sensitive dentist can "read" how his patient
is reacting.
Posture expresses a person's attitudes-his feelings for the people
he's with. A person who folds his arms across his chest, for example,
comes across to many people as cold or passive. If the man's arms
hang freely to his sides, he seems more open and accessible.
Every day we all read subtle nonverbal clues without realizing it.
Posture can be a tip-off as to whether two people like one another
or not, and the signals are slightly different for men and for women.
If you are discussing a dental plan with a male patient who
lounges far back in his chair, what is he communicating? Probably
that he doesn't like you. When a man is leaning forward slightly
but is relaxed with his back a little curved, he probably likes the
person he is with. A man usually indicates when he is feeling
threatened by sitting very straight and tense. If the patient is a
woman, her dislike is shown by lounging back, her liking by the
, - - - - - - - OUR COVER - - - - - - - - ,
Cover artist Edward Kasper illustrates the subject of our lead
article-nonverbal communication. Some individuals understand such communication instinctively; others through experience; still others through professional knowledge. More and
more dentists are beginning to realize the importance of understanding patients' body language.
I
by Maurice J. Teitelbaum, D.D.S .
The traditional pose of
"closed" person is with
folded across the che st.
communicates a coldness
indifference.
the
arms
This
and
The ideal posture for nonverbal
communicating openness and
acceptance is leaning slightly
forward with back curved, arms
relaxed at side.
same easy, forward posture as the man. Women sit
at attention for nobody of either sex, and no woman
is threatening enough to make any man sit tensely at
attention. Thus, the posture cue to remember is:
When the discussion is going well the patient will be
leaning forward slightly with his back a little curved.
What Facial Expressions Say
Another important aspect of nonverbal communication is facial expressions. Most Americans, because
of social rules, are not likely to be too expressive in
their facial behavior. Particularly for men, the fashion
is stoicism, an avoidance of exaggerated expressive
behavior. Recent studies have concluded that several
categories of emotion can be accurately detected from
facial expressions : happiness, surprise, fear, anger,
sadness, disgust, contempt, and interes t. The difficulty in accurately reading these expressions is under~ cored by the conclusion that over a thousand different facial expressions are anatomically possible. Fortunately, only a few of these have significant meaning.
Since the face is difficult to read, concentrate instead
on the patient's eyes.
Our eyes regulate our conversation. During the
everyday exchange of words, while people focus their
attention on what is being said, their eye movements
provide a system of conversational traffic signals,
notifying another individual when it's his turn to talk.
Let's consider an example. Dr. Gandy enters the
examination room and exchanges preliminary greetings with an old patient. To indicate his friendliness
he asks how the patient's family is. The woman , Mrs.
Lambert, begins her response by looking away from
Dr. Gandy. As she hits her conversational stride, she
glances back at him from time to time, usually as she
pauses at the end of a phrase or sentence. If Dr.
Gandy nods his head or murmurs "uh-huh" or other2
The most obvious example of
poor listening is to recline as far
back as poss ible in the chair,
head and eyes turned away from
the speaker.
•
The best greeting to a patient
is a slight smile, arms casually
hanging at sides.
wise indicates that he's listening, she then looks away
again and continues talking. When she finishes what
she has to say, Mrs. Lambert gives a significantly
longer glance, indicating that it is the dentist's turn to
talk. When Dr. Gandy takes up the conversation,
Mrs. Lambert spends much more time looking at him
than she did when she herself was the speaker. Her
away glances are generally few and brief. She makes
reassuring signs when their eyes meet.
It's not too hard to see what is really happening
here. When Mrs. Lambert is speaking, she glances at
Dr. Gandy from time to time for feedback: to make
sure he's listening, to see how he's reacting, or for
permission to go on talking. While Dr. Gandy is doing the talking, she looks at him quite a lot to show
that she's paying attention, that she's polite.
Importance of Eye Movements
In order to have a satisfactory conversation, these
rules of eye movement must be observed. What happens when they are not? An individual can actually
express many things by his eye behavior, just by exaggerating slightly the pattern. By looking away continually while listening, he indicates dissatisfaction
with what the other is saying. By looking away continually while speaking, he indicates that he is uncertain about what he's saying. To be effective the
dentist should look at the patient while listening, thus
indicating agreement or simple attention. The dentist
who looks at the patient while speaking, indicates
he's interested in how the other is taking his remarks
and that he's pretty sure of what he's saying.
When the patient asks a question but does not look
at you, he is indicating his anxiety. When people want
to hide some aspect of their inner feelings-fear, tension, anxiety, nervousness-they often try to avoid
eye contact. When the dentist is actually working on
TIC, OCTOBER, 1976
THISA AND DATA
Cold Fact: Although the "runny nose" which accompanies a cold is somewhat unpleasant, did you
know it can save you from a serious condition? When
the mucus of the nasal and sinus cavities can drain
normally into the throat or be blown out through the
nose, clogged sinuses and resulting sinus infection
are less likely. . . . Caffeine and Cancer: Although
huge amounts of caffeine enhance the cancer-causing
process in hamsters, scientists say that a heavy coffee
drinker would have to consume ten times as much
coffee as he does daily to produce any cell-changing
effects ... , Some geriatric specialists speculate that
in 50 years man's life span will be 90 years and that
the over-65 age group will double to almost 42 million .. . .Judging by consumption alone, aspirin must
be the most popular drug on the market. Some 22
billion aspirin are sold each year, which is about 100
tablets per person . ... The National Heart and Lung
Institute reports that smokers who break the cigarette
habit late in life and after many years of smoking can
increase their chance of survival. . . .Mark Twain,
plagued with peridontal problems, once spent nine
hours in the dental chair in one day. The following
day he spent five more hours with his dentist. When
his dentist remarked about the excessive amounts of
tobacco he must have used in his lifetime, Twain
answered that he had used "tons." .... Some of the
latest figures on national expenditures for the military,
education, and health reveal the following priorities :
for military: United States and the USSR; for education: Sweden and Denmark; for health services : Sweden and W. Germany ... .Quote from the A.D.A.
News: "Several years ago it was felt by many that the
solo practitioner in a one-assistant office would soon
be as extinct as the dodo bird. Group practice was
supposed to be the thing of the future. Such thinking
is still popular in some circles and just may be accurate. Yet there is currently considerable interest in
practicing in a small one-dentist town. Dentists in
small towns, even though they shoulder the responsibilities for the oral health of an entire community, are
TIC, OCTOBER, 1976
probably not the human dynamo types with 10 operatories and hygienists, assistants, lab technicians, and
bookkeepers all over the place. They don't intend to
be and that is the reason they selected, a low-overhead, everybody-knows-everybody-else setting.
TENNIS EVERYONE!
The rise of tennis over the past few years, not only
as a viewing sport but as a participating sport, has
been phenomenal. With men and women of every age
clogging the public and private courts the sport has
become a multi-million dollar business. Polls show
that dentists have increasingly made tennis their number-one hobby. Although it is an excellent way to
keep fit and exercise, it does have a few hazardsnamely, "tennis elbow" and "tennis toe," not to mention strained muscles and turned ankles.
According to Dr. Charles Steiner, one of the leading physicians in the treatment of lateral epicondylitis,
or tennis elbow: "Tennis elbow usually comes from a
twisting motion of the arm and many times happens
while hitting the backhand or putting spin on the ball."
While most physicians prescribe rest for tennis elbow,
Dr. Steiner encourages motion. "Rest doesn't cure it,"
he says, "all it does is hide the fact that the problem
still exists. The tissues are bloodless and rest just interrupts the pain." Dr. Steiner prefers injecting the
elbow with medication to nourish the injured area.
The best way to prevent tennis elbow is to warm up
with loosening exercises before playing. Tissues that
are warmed up will stretch while cold tissues will tear.
Tennis toe, which has become increasingly more
common with the popularity of the sport, occurs when
players stop short while going for the ball and jam
their toes into the ends of their sneakers. The result
of this injury causes pain and swelling. This can be
prevented by wearing properly fitted shoes with ample
toe room. For players who are highly competitive and
for whom the injury is more likely to occur, two pairs
of socks should be worn-one thin pair inside a thicker pair. Another suggestion is to stuff cotton in the
toes of sneakers.
15
BOOKS
(Continued from Page 7)
generations as well as his affinity for the Californian
~cene .. SurI?risingly, Archer comes up with an appealmg gIrl frIend. One character's words (Francine
Chantry) sums it up: "It's a fairly complex chain of
events"-from Archer's hiring to retrieve a stolen
painting through the more serious mystery of its supposed painter, Richard Chantry, to the painter's
model, a murder, and finally a shocking and startling
denouement. In short, good Ross Macdonald-among
the best.
John Creasey had nearly 600 books published in
two dozen languages and sold over 60 million copies.
His Let's Kill Uncle Lione.l (David McKay, $6.95),
which he first wrote as Jeremy York, has been revised
and is in its first American edition. Using the classic
English detective style, Creasey follows Superintendent Folly of Scotland Yard-bulky with a penchant
for palatal delicacies, and with tiny, beautifully shod
feet-through the intricacies of a family which has
decided only murder can rid it of its avuncular tyranny. But as suspense builds, neither brothers nor
cousins can any longer trust each other, and even attempt to murder within the family-with Folly finally
trapping a cruel cunning killer. Very good.
Going from one of the best and longest known to
the newest-the Mystery Writers of America have
just awarded their Edgar, a coveted award, to it as
best in the first novel category - Rex Burns' The
Alvarez Journal (Harper & Row, $6.95). A new star
has risen, for Burns has here one of the best police
mysteries around. Set in Denver, Detective Gabe
Wager moves through a realistic slimmed down
tough story of drug smuggling-and comes up with ~
believable suspenseful tale in every way. Result: an
outstanding book.
The English have quite a knack for it, and Elizabeth
Lemarchand turns out another in their classic Scotland
Yard style-quiet, suspenseful, intricate. DetectiveSuperintendent Pollard has a murdered body in a
priest's hole-in a 15th century English castle now
turned to a tourist's attraction with tours going
through. Family interrelationships and history, present-day commercial interests, and tangled family ties
make for characters well and sharply delineated, believable situations, a logical mystery, and a startling
solution. In all, very good.
This is in fact a more-American English thriller.
John Gardner's The Cornermen (Doubleday, $7.95)
writes more in the tradition of our own John D. MacDonald (Travis McGee stories) than his British John
Creasey. The Cornermen starts with attempted drug
smuggling, with police and criminal being blown to
bits-and with Scotland Yard's Derek Torry, formerly of New York's finest. It goes on through London's stripper joints and underworld, mob violence,
sex, and the American mafia trying to muscle in on
their British cousins-all ending after some 200 pages
of suspense with a shoot-out in London's own Westminster Cathedral. Gripping interest-holder all the
way.
the patient, there is less eye contact because the two
are so close together. Reducing eye contact psychologically increases the physical distance. Thus, if the
dentist wants to converse with the patient, he should
move away from the patient a more comfortable distance so that normal eye movement rules can be used.
'.
137 East 36 Street
New York, New York 10016
i,
"ONE THING LED TO ANOTHER. I PUT SO MANY BRACES ON
KIDS' TEETH. THEN I GOT AN OVERSUPPLY OF WIRE. NOW I
GOT A HOBBY!"
14
TIC, OCTOBER, 1976
What the Hands Say
Another important nonverbal indicator is the hands.
Gestures do communicate and at times they can unintentionally reveal emotions. Tightly clasped hands
or hands that fidget are the most common clues to
tension. For the dentist who is busy working on a
patient, a glance at the patient's hands is the quickest
and easiest way to tell how the patient actually feels .
Occasionally a patient tries to hide his hands and this
too communicates. If during the treatment the hands
emerge and remain visible, the patient is obviously
feeling more confident.
"At Ease" for the Patient
There are several nonverbal cues the dentist can
use to put his patient at ease. These can be divided
into: providing a relaxing environment, projecting
"warmth," and using "touch."
In recent years there has been a movement to get
rid of the cold, sterile atmosphere which once characterized the dental office. The whole atmosphere of
white jackets and antiseptic smells has been attacked.
Not only the patient, but the dentist himself suffered
from spending hours in stark, cramped quarters.
Why shouldn't dental offices be beautiful? The
patient who is treated in a colorful room with art work
tends to relax more easily than one who isn't. Music
has also proven to be very effective for relaxing nervous, tense patients . In a popular Beverly HiIIs dental
office, anxious patients are offered a drink-sherry or
cognac-before their treatment. The clothing of the
dentist is also changing, white jackets are being discarded for more informal, colorful shirts. Walls are
being painted in warm colors : blue is tender and
soothing; green is calm, peaceful, serene; and yellow
is cheerful and jovial.
An experiment conducted in a doctor's office suggests that the presence or absence of a desk may
significantly alter the patient's "at ease" state. With the
desk separating doctor and patient, only 10 percent
of the patients were at ease, whereas removal of th e
desk brought those at ease up to 55 percent. Thus,
for an informal di scussion the dentist might sit in a
comfortable chair facing the patient rather than behind the desk.
Indications are that patients respond better to a
dentist they perceive as being a "warm" person. How
is warmth projected? Body language indicators which
lead to being perceived as a "warm" person include
a shift of posture toward the other person, a smile,
TIC, OCTOBER, 1976
direct eye contact, and hands remaining still. If the
dentist wants the patient to increase his talking, he
should use the warmth indicators coupled with a few
utterances of "mm-hmm." This significantly increases
the amount of verbal communication. A "cold" person generally enters the room, looks around, slumps,
drums his fingers, and does not smile.
The Impact of Touch
Another nonverbal indicator which a dentist can
employ to put his patient at ease is touch. Americans
as a whole are not prone to touch one another. However, what a man experiences through his skin is more
important than most of us realize. We are in constant contact with the outside world through our skin .
Touching can be used to give encouragement, express tenderness, show emotional support and many
other things. Touch is involved with status. Anyone
can touch a child, and a physician or dentist can touch
a patient, but the patient would never consider reaching for the physician or dentist. Thus, a brief touch
could be used to put the patient at ease.
However, the dentist should do this only if he feels
comfortable doing it. Like other forms of nonverbal
behavior, touching may support or contradict information communicated verbally. For example, a dentist may explain to the patient not to worry about a
pending root canal treatment and his touch may add
confirmation. But if he is nervous, stiff, and abrupt,
the touch may contradict his words and increase the
patient's anxiety.
We have seen how patients nonverbally communicate their emotions through their posture, face , eyes,
and hands. The sensitive dentist who can read these
cues will be more successful in his interaction with
the patient than one who cannot. Being aware of
nonverbal communication is not easy. From infant
school through professional school we are taught to
know things, to isolate them, identify them, count
them, measure them, and classify them. Our minds
are trained to be objective, to specialize in the narrowest limits of our field.
The Importance of "How"
But man is not a thing-he is a person. We can
only improve our communication when we become
aware of the other person. Most of our relationship
communication-that is how we feel about the other
person-is nonverbal. When the dentist and patient
talk, "what" is said, is equaled in significance by
"how" it is said. F or improving his effectiveness with
patients, the dentist should provide a relaxed environment, project "warmth" and use "touch."
It is impossible not to communicate. By being
aware of nonverbal cues, the dentist can improve his
communication with patients.
17 North Vega Street
Alhambra, Cal ifornia 91801
3
Removing Cemented Crowns and Bridges
Without Destroying Them
by Elias M. Karnoff, D.D.S.
If the primary problem in restorative dentistry is the
lack of a truly permanent cement, the second most
important problem must certainly be the need for a
cement that lets go on command, without destroying
the crown or bridge.
The advantage of being able to remove a restoration for repair, correction or addition is so compelling
that many practitioners have resorted to permanenttemporary cementations. Alas, the result is often too
temporary or too permanent.
When the need arises, judicious tapping with a mallet or reverse hammer may get us out of some tight
spots. However, the danger of fracturing the abutment tooth at the neck makes the use of this kind of
force a risky game-especially when the operator
doesn't know what the prepared tooth looks like.
Jack-screws have proved disappointing in most
cases; we rarely find enough thickness of occlusal gold
to engage the screw threads.
What to do?
We can learn something from the orthodontists and
borrow a set of their traditional band-removers. (Fig.
I-A is for molars and I-B is for premolars and anteriors.) Any crown can be temporarily turned into
a band by drilling a hole through the occlusal surface
(Fig. 2).
If the diameter of the occlusal finger of the pliers
is reduced to about the thickness of a #558 bur, the
occlusal hole need not be very large-but it must go
completely through the metal. With one plier finger
placed in the hole, the other plier beak is engaged
under the margin of the crown and an equal sqeeze
is applied until the crown "pops" (Figs. 3, 4) . Do
not luxate the tooth.
If the margin is thin, purchase may be obtained
occlusal to it by creating a groove with an inverted
cone bur (Fig. 5). In the posterior region, one can
also come in from the lingual if desired.
For multiple splints, when they are all tight, the
procedure is repeated tooth by tooth, breaking the
cement seal on one after another. For anterior teeth,
the incisal hole may be started lingual to the incisal
edge to avoid damaging it and the opening bur can
make a slight step in the lingual incline of the prepared
tooth to prevent slipping (Fig. 6).
We have used these "crown-poppers" for many
years and are always finding new applications:
• When old restorations must be removed for new
work, tedious splitting of metal crowns is avoided.
• When provisionally-splinted mobile teeth must have
the temporary crowns removed without pressure, a
hole in the occlusal allows gentle "popping."
• Difficult-to-retain temporary crowns can be cemented with a strong permanent cement and "popped"
off at each visit.
glass door, peephole, or door window. The person is
also let out by having the buzzer pressed. (You may
want such an arrangement for your home.)
There's another bell or buzzer system, wiring under
the doormat or floor runner. The weight of the entrant automatically sets this one off. No one can enter
unnoticed if the wiring is properly placed.
Each office has its own particular needs. By study-
BUZZER SYSTEM FOR OUTSIDE DOOR.
THOSE INSIDE CAN SEE WHO IS PRESS.
ING THE BUZZER, AND CAN RELEASE
THE DOOR LOCK FROM INSIDE.
ing what's available and the results desired, you can
come up with an effective system that's best for you.
A good doorbell system will always let you know
when someone is coming or going. That's highly important for a number of reasons, including safety and
good public relations in greeting a patient or seeing
him off.
1557 Lochmoor Boulevard
Grosse Pointe Woods, Michigan 48236
A COWBELL ATTACHED TO THE DOOR
APPARATUS. IT CLANGS WHEN DOOR
IS OPENED.
31 Washington Square West
New York, New York 10011
(Copright by the New York Journal of Dentistry. Reprinted
by permission.)
o
B
A
DOOR CHIMES. A COMPACT MODEL.
Fig. 2
Fig. I
(Continued on page 5)
4
TIC, OCTOBER, 1976
TIC, OCTOBER, 1976
WIRING UNDER THE RUNNER SETS OFF
A BELL OR BUZZER SYSTEM.
13
(Continued from page 4)
ly distorted by things many times removed from the
office or the immediate reason for anger or dissatisfaction.
Once the decision to dismiss has been firmed up
in your mind, however, there is a checklist of things
to do and not to do.
Federal and state employment regulations spell out
specifically, or by inference, how you can go about it.
They establish employee rights; they define requirements for setting forth the reasons for dismissal, the
latter, of course, being of critical importance to eligibility for unemployment benefits.
And in these days of increasing concern for individuals and stern prohibitions against discriminationsex and race being the principal ones these days-the
how, when, where and why of firing has to be clearly
established so as to forestall any future difficulties.
"Firing" should be a last resort of employer discipline, unless the infraction was so blatant and so
provoking as to insist upon immediate, on-the-scene
action.
There are some temper-cooling steps you might
want to consider before you move past the point-ofno-return in your decision to dismiss.
You can ask yourself:
• How valuable is the employee to you? To the staff?
• How "real" was the disruption? How much damage was done to your authority or to the office efficiency by the misdeed?
• How much is the employee personally at fault?
Could poorly given instructions be the reason for
the wrong-doing?
• Was the error more one of omission, rather than of
commission? Did you expect more than what you
had the right to expect in performance? In compliance?
• Are others on the staff partially or wholly responsible? Did one or more contribute directly or indirectly to the employee's delinquency?
• Did the employee fully understand what was expected and what was not done that was expected
to be done?
• Were duties and directions spelled out sufficiently
and clearly enough to avoid or rule out misunderstanding or misinterpretation as the reason for the
faulted actions?
• Will a modicum of extra patience and a stern reprimand coupled with a "second chance" suffice to
remedy the wrong?
• What impact will the dismissal have on the other
staff? On the patients?
• Is the dismissed employee likely to be vindictive?
Seek revenge?
• Can the dismissed employee seek revenge through
disclosure of confidential information available to
her during her employment?
• How difficult will replacement be? It is possible at
all? Will it complicate and aggravate a currently
difficult situation?
When all of these factors have been taken into consideration and the decision to dismiss is irrevocable,
carry it through quickly and quietly, without rancor,
or anger. All in Private. Be frank. Be direct in explaining the reason for dismissal.
When it is time to do it, do it!
12
TIC, OCTOB ER, 1976
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
27-Gauge Short
Dentists have been taught to keep the needle out of
sight at all times. However, things do not always work
out this way. I cannot help but believe that the patient
who glimpses the long needle in the hands of his dentist experiences considerable psychic shock. The long
needle itself is enough to keep many people-more
than we realize-away from the dental office.
In the past, dental educators always cautioned
against the use of any needle up to, or near the hub.
This was necessary at one time in dental practice.
However, with the appearance of the spiral-constructed, single use disposable needle, breakage has become
a thing of the past. Two oral surgeons have assured
me that they have not had needle-breakage for many
years and that its incidence has dropped to zero. One
of the oral surgeons advised me that he would never,
under any circumstance, give the mandibular block
with the short needle. The other oral surgeon assured
me that he had been doing this for years, and thought
nothing of it as it was a common practice.
Personally, I have never experienced needle breakage in the past 23 years. I use the 27 gauge short
needle, up to the hub, if necessary, but never with
lateral pressure. I have found that the 27 gauge short
is kind to the patient and kind to the dentist as well.
For me, this instrument can be used for all types of
local anesthesia with complete safety.
Ifornmandibular
the average dental office, the long needle is used
block anesthesia and the short needle
by Mitch Pieronek
can be conversation pieces, like a cowbell. That one's
merely tied to the door apparatus and clangs every
time the door is swung. It's truly a fun item.
If sound is an important consideration in your office, remember: bells and buzzers generally produce
a harsher sound than chimes. Make your choice accordingly.
In some areas, safety is a very important item. It
boils down to the simple matter of seeing who the
person is before he's let in. There's a doorbell arrangement that helps you do just that. The patient
rings a buzzer on the outside door. Someone inside
sees who it is and presses a buzzer releasing the door
and letting the person in. Obviously, some viewing
arrangement is needed to make the entry work-a
Fig. 4
by Robert K. Zimmerman, D.D.S.
Double Duty Doorbells
Doorbells used to serve one purpose-to let you
know when someone entered or left your office. Now
they also have another purpose-to let you select
whom you let in or out. In some situations and areas,
safety brought it on.
In either case, doorbells are important. They can
be very elegant or very simple. Run-of-the-mill or
distinctive. Much depends on what purpose they're
to serve, how much you want to spend, and the effect
you want to achieve. The choice is yours.
They can take the form of buzzers, chimes, bells or
even signal lights th at flash on if you don't want sound.
The action of the door triggers all of them.
Chimes come in all kinds of shapes, sizes, and
sounds. So do bells. They can be very gentle or they
Fig. 3
.
,
is used for maxillary infiltration. This report is presented, not to arouse a storm in the dental profession
or to discourage the use of the long needle, but rather
as a study of what has been and can be done with the
27-gauge short needle. In my office, since the advent
of the single use disposable needle, only the 27-gauge
short needle has been used for all phases of general
dentistry. We have had about fifteen years of practice
without the presence of the long needle in the office.
The experience of using only the short needle actually began even earlier. I was introduced to it during
the Korean War as a dentist at Clark Field in the Philippines. For some reason, our shipment of hospital
and dental supplies did not arrive. The dental clinic
had only short needles in stock. We had a 14-chair
dental clinic, running on dou ble-shift, trying to keep
abreast of the tremendous work load, with no mandibular needles on hand.
One of our oral surgeons demonstrated that he
could accomplish the mandibular block with the short
needle. He even picked out some "massive-jaw" subjects and surprised us with his success. Then we went
back to work, doing all types of dentistry, using only
the short needle.
TIC, OCTOBER, 1976
819 Upper Cahokia Road
Cahokia, Illinois 62206
(Copyright by the Journal of the Academy of General D entistry. Reprinted by permL~sion .)
5
YOU'RE FIREDI
Textbook of Medicine (14th ed.) by Paul B. Beeson
and Walsh McDermott, 2,225 pp., 245 ill., 2 vols.,
$40.00, Philadelphia, W. B. Saunders, 1975.
As Walsh McDermott puts it here: "Medicine is not
a science but a learned profession deeply rooted in a
number of sciences and charged with the obligation
to apply them for man's benefit." This is true also of
dentistry, which is essentially a highly specialized
branch of the art of medicine. With the emphasis today
on the medical aspects of our profession, as opposed
to the surgical, a classical text (it was first edited by
Cecil and Loeb, a half century ago), such as this
magnificent and complete textbook of medicine,
should be on every office shelf. Today's dentist increasingly looks to the problems of oral and systemic
disease and turns to a new pharmacologic control of
pain by psychosedation and other means. For all th is
the patient'S medical history and health are essential
and so a reference work-complete and up-to-date
as this one-is needed. As Beeson himself writes in
the section on The Nature of Medicine: "I have not
found it helpful (except as an editor!) to read a book
like this in systematic cover-to-cover fashion ... you
should use it . . . as a pl ace in which information can
be obtained about problems being dealt with at the
time." It's all here, well written and by experts. An
essential!
The Treasury of Houseplants by Rob Herwig and
Margot Schubert, 368 pp ., 335 full-color ill. and 100
drawings, $12.95, New York, Macmillan Co., 1976.
The recent plant explosion in home and office makes
a really authoritative volume, well illustrated in color,
a book to be welcomed. If you want to enjoy the
beauty and variety of houseplants available to you
today, this book is a necessity and a joy. This does it
all for the indoor gardener-covering more than 1,000
popular, common, and exotic plants. The authors tel!
how to select the plants, and which ones will do best
in the light, temperature , and humidity of your apart-
G
ment, house or office. Care and maintenance are detailed-from watering and pruning, methods of propagation and disease control, potting and soils, to proper sunlight, and all the rest. T here are ideas for display
in plant tables or cases, terrariums, and the like. For
each plant there is the Latin name and the common,
the origin, appearance, flowering, and so on. A truly
complete plant encyclopedia.
Low Back Pain by Bernard E. Finneson, 376 pp.,
383 ill., $23.00, Philadelphia, J. B. Lippincott Company, 1973.
This book is chiefly for you-no one need tell the
dentist about how bad low back problems can be.
But Finneson-internationally known as a specialist in
this area-has a great deal to offer. In this comprehensive and obviously concerned text he covers everything from embryology to anatomy of the low back,
its muscles and ligaments and spinal disks. You can
even learn much about pain here-in general and not
just low back-for there is a knowledgeable discussion of pain and the doctor-patient relationship, the
evaluation of pain, the secondary loss and gain involved, and the hypochondriac, socioeconomic, and
cultural factors in pain . Here are the new therapies
for back problems (chymopapain for one) and the
old slipped disk surgery. And for you, here are the
facts on lumbosacral strain and those on activities of
daily living and faulty posture. Most of all, here can
be found back exercises and proper habits to protect
your back. In short, everything you need know for
that aching back of yours!
From Shamin to Psychotherapist by Walter Bromberg,
368 pp., ill., $4.95 (paper) , Chicago, Henry Regnery,
1976.
As Bromberg puts it: "Measured in terms of man's
7,000-year-old attempt to cure his bodily and mental
ills through magic, art, and science, psychotherapy is
our most recent endeavor. ... Psychotherapy anteTIC, OCTOBER, 1976
New Ground Rules for Dismissing an Employee
Once upon a time the power to hire and to fire was
an absolute, to be freely exercised by the dentist to the
best advantage of his practice-as he saw it.
'Taint so, now.
Things have changed in recent years on how this
power is used and how it can be used.
Once upon a time it was a personal decision of the
dentist, without intrusion of any outside force. Now
there are a variety of external factors that are obliged
to be considered, much beyond the simple conclusion
that a worker was not doing the job as well and/ or as
completely as was expected.
The act of dismissing an employee presently has to
be considered in the context of government regulation, union contracts, psychological implications, discrimination, and a burgeoning societal sensitivity to
"individual rights."
The hiring phase remains almost unfettered by regulations.
The key word, however, is "almost."
By federal statute, any public advertisement for a
propective employee cannot indicate exclusivity of
preference-man or woman. The position, rather than
the person, has to be the only condition set forth for
employment.
Help wanted sections in newspapers can no longer
segregate ads which seek women or men. That "man
wanted" or "woman wanted" column of days gone by
is long gone by.
The complexities at the other end of the hire-fire
process are even more drastic and more restrictive.
Punishment for a failure to comply can be a serious
legal infraction and bring about stiff fines or other
fiscal penalties along with an order to hire or not to
fire when neither action was the choice of the employer.
The erosion of the right to make a decision that an
employee is no longer meeting his or her responsibilities or performing below acceptable standards has
progressed so rapidly over the past few years that
now it is considered by many-not the dentist-as a
privilege subject to a host of new ground rules .
It has reached the point where a simple "You're
fired!" is not enough to remove an unwanted employee
from the premises.
It is to the advantage of the dissatisfied dentist not
to act impulsively or make such a decision on the spot
of an infraction ordinarily sufficient to warrant dismissal.
Not all of the dental offices of today are subject to
such stringent restrictions to their right to dismiss employees. But all are faced with some limiting curbs.
For all, it would be better to adopt a simple slogan:
"Walk carefully and be sure of every step."
TIC, OCTOBER, 1976
Scattered in the dental world are those workers who
are protected by their union membership and no one
knows the restrictive protection of job rights better
than a union member, or a union representative.
This situation is more likely in a group practice situation, clinics or in health maintenarice organizations
which include dental care.
For your own peace of mind-and office harmony
-particularly the smaller ones where a dismissal is
reason for office trauma, be sure there is "just cause"
for the firing.
The one-time wrong that once-upon-a time was
enough to be done with an employee is no longer justifiable. The grounds for dismissal now have to be
broader and be a series of repeated wrongs, interspersed with a warning or two. This does not mean
an over and over and over again poor performance
has to be tolerated. Misdeeds need number as well as
substance these days to bring about a firing.
In your mind it would be better to make certain
that the dissatisfaction is a "real cause", rather than
a personality difference or an irritation that resulted
from a carryover from other distressing office or family situations.
Don't be quick to blame an employee for mistakes
that a more objective, impersonal review would more
properly change the perspective of blame and put a
little on your own shoulders.
There are those times when our perspective is bad-
II
dates psychiatry; ... the story of doing as opposed to
thinking about doing." Barely 200 years old as a
scientific discipline, mental healing goes back to man's
own earliest beginnings, and Bromberg traces its history from the amulet bags of the Stone Age, the shaman of the Bronze Age, through the medieval faith
healing and witchcraft to hypnosis-Mesmerism at
first-and finally Freud and the recent pharmacotherapy, even behavior modification and transcendental meditation. In short, as the subtitle put it"a history of the treatment of mental illness." Fascinating history.
down. Of course, dentists still need stamina."
In addition to supervising USC junior and senior
students in the operative clinic, Dr. Kagihara instructs
freshman and sophomore preclinical classes, holds
seminars and lectures, and serves on the student admissions and student evaluation committees.
A Horatio Alger Heroine
All Horatio Alger's heroes were boys. That's because he didn't know Jackie Arndt.
In June of 1974, Jacqueline Arndt of Playa del Rey
earned the degree of D.D.S., after almost 25 years of
going through the dental ranks. She is now an instructor in oral diagnosis at the University of Southern
California (USC) School of Dentistry, and one of the
few female faculty members of the school.
How she became a dentist is a story with all the ingredients Alger made popular in the 1880's-obstacles, determination, hard work, and eventual
success.
After several years as a dental assistant in New
York and San Diego, she moved to Los Angeles in
1956 and became an assistant to Dr. Alex Koper of
Los Angeles, director and clinical professor of Advanced Prosthodontics in the USC School of Dentistry.
"Dr. Koper served as the catalyst for my career,"
Dr. Arndt said. "He's a wonderful person who motivated me to go into dental hygiene."
While she credits Dr. Koper abundantly, she scarcely mentions her own capabilities, her growing capacity
for new and added responsibilities, and her determination to progress. Those qualities led her successfully through five years of night school at El Camino
College, simultaneously working fulltime for Dr.
Koper, and rearing her two young children with no
hel p but babysitters.
When Mrs. Arndt received the B.S. degree in 1963,
she coasted for about a year working fulltime as a
dental hygienist with Dr. Koper. "Working fulltime
in one office was a little unusual," she pointed out.
"Most dental hygienists divided their time between two
or more dental offices."
After a year working as a hygienist, Mrs. Arndt felt
the need of added challenges. Her activities as a working mother confronted with measles, parent-teacher
conferences, meals, and continued crises were not
enough to supplement only one career.
"I started teaching in the dental hygiene clinic at
USC one day a week," she recalls. "Becoming involved in teaching marked my first real expansion in
my professional life.
"I also became involved in local dental hygiene
societies and served in various official capacities. I
found out a lot about myself that I hadn't knownthat I could work with groups of people and that I
had leadership abilities."
10
The Life of Raymond Chandler by Frank MacShane,
318 pp., ill., $12.50, New York, E. P. Dutton, 1976.
Are you a whodunit buff or just one who enjoys
fine writing and sensitive biography? Whichever you
are, this is the book for you. Chandler and Hammett
are the two greatest detective story writers, and both
were much more than this, they were serious top novelists. MacShane's deeply researched book strikes to
the core of this remarkable novelist, who only started
writing fiction in his mid-40s after having lost his job
as an oil company executive through drinking. Married to a woman 20 years his senior, Chandler was as
MacShane says: " ... in part a dreamer, a poet of the
ideals of love and beauty and generosity. Because he
was so aware of the gap between these two levels of
reality, he suffered greatly .... Cynical enough to look
on life as 'today a pat on the back; tomorrow, a kick
in the teeth!' . . . he felt passionately." Important,
fascinating biography.
DR. JACQUELINE ARNDT ASSISTING A STUDENT
IN CARING FOR A PATIENT AT THE USC DENTAL
CLINIC.
To meet this new commitment to herself, Mrs.
Arndt realized that she would have to become a dentist. Back to school for hygienist Arndt. She discontinued teaching dental hygiene but, as a USC dental
student, found herself back in teaching. "Rather than
have me repeat work I already knew in periodontics,"
she said, "the school assigned me to instruct other
dental students in the subject."
Now, as a licensed dentist, Dr. Arndt spends two
days a week in private practice and four days at the
USC School of Dentistry, where she is coordinating
a new concept, the module program.
The module program directly allies patient care
and teaching. It offers the patient one location and
one group of staff-junior and senior students-for all
his dental treatment.
For the student, the module offers a private practice
atmosphere and experiences in performing various
dental procedures for one patient in one place.
University of Southern California
2025 Zonal Avenue
Los Angeles, California 90033
TIC, OCTOBER, 1976
by New York City'S Garland Publishing, Inc., which
deserves a vote of thanks! Entitled Fifty Classics of
Crime Fiction 1900-1950, this new project promises
the opportunity to obtain a facsimile version of the
original edition of many classics of this genre. The
quality is attested to by the fact that the editors are
America's great historian and man of letters, Jacques
Barzun, and Wendell H. Taylor, scientist and also
historian. The series promises both famous and unobtainable classics such as Trent's Last Case, by E. C.
Bentley; Raymond Chandler's The Lady in the Lake;
a unique collection of H. C. Bailey's Mr. Fortune
adventures; and much more. All will be obtainable
by the book or the entire set.
Classic Stories of Crime and Detection is the first
of this Garland Publishing series ($12.00) and is now
available. Each story is set in the original format, and
both paper and binding are made for long and frequent perusal. The 14 short stories range from one
of Uncle Abner of Melville Davisson Post to classics
of John Dickson Carr (Carter Dickson) and Ellery
Queen; The Thinking Machine of Jacques Futrelle;
and a corker by William Irish (Cornell Woolrich).
Treasure-trove, not to be missed!
Here is a new one by the number three great in this
field-Ross Macdonald. Only Hammet and Chandler
are better, and some question even this. The Blue
Hammer (Alfred A. Knopf, $7.95) by Ross Macdonald is another in his Lew Archer series and follows
the author's longstanding fascination with the psychological aspects of family interrelationships through
(Continued on Page 14)
Clinical Rheumatology by Roland W. Moskowitz,
331 pp., 129 ill., $14.00, Philadelphia, Lea & Febiger,
1975.
As Moskowitz points out: "Pessimism has given
way to optimism that much can be done to control
many of the rheumatic disorders ... prevention and
hope are not unreasonable goals for the near future."
Although most dentists will think of the temporomandibular joint when they hear "rheumatology," these
disorders affect dental practice much more widely;
scleroderma, for example, characteristically affects
face, lips, and tongue, causing the typical "pinched
faces" and telangiestasis on face, lips, and tongue.
Sjogren's syndrome affects the salivary glands causing
parotid swelling, and many of the arthritides attack
the temporomandibular joint. This book takes a different and highly practical tack, with a problemoriented approach which makes it easier for the dental
practitioner to locate his information. Comprehensive and new, this is highly useful.
MURDER FOR YOUR PLEASURE:
the whodunits
If you're a true murder-mystery-detective-crime
buff, you'll welcome an exciting new series of books
TIC, OCTOBER, 1976
"JUST BETWEEN THE TWO OF
US, DO DENTISTS GET CAVITIES?'
7
Female dentists are rare birds whose flock only recently has begun to multiply.
In accordance with a national trend, the University
of Southern California (USC) School of Dentistry
now has a significantly larger number of women seeking the D.D.S. degree than in the past. In a student
body of 519, the number of women had grown from
five in 1971 to 41 in 1975.
One of these women is Reva Morgan of Los Angeles, a 32-year-old junior who, with other female
students, is involved in improving the position of
women in the predominantly male world of student
dentists.
She served a term as president of USC's Association of Women Dental Students and remains active
in the organization.
"Our association isn't an officially recognized group,
but one of our purposes is to become recognized and
to command a greater voice in the school."
Ms. Morgan was involved in founding the association in 1973. "Before then," she noted, "there were
hardly enough women to constitute a group."
With the aim of attracting more women into the
profession, members of the association travel to colleges to encourage women to enter dentistry and to
apply to' USc.
"We do this because we are proud of our profession
and our USC training," says Ms. Morgan. "We also
arrange big-little sister relationships with new students
because there is a great amount of stress in dental
school-for both men and women. For a woman, it's
particularly hectic. We have to learn to handle remarks like, 'Is this really better than marriage and a
family?,
"In fact, for me, being a female student is more
exceptional-and more difficult-than being a black
student."
Now that she has entered the clinical phase of her
dental education, Ms. Morgan has noticed that some
female patients prefer female doctors. "Some women
request female doctors. Right now I have three male
patients and eight female.
"Some people may feel that a woman will treat
them more carefully or kindly than a man, but I think
that both sexes can be equally considerate. And USC
teaches all of its students, male and female , to be concerned not only about the patient's tooth but about
the patient's welfare in generaL"
Meet Marilyn Rest
Marilyn Rest of Los Angeles, a 30-year-old sophomore who is also a member of the Association of
Women Dental Students, wishes that someone had
introduced her, when she was an undergraduate, to the
possibility of becoming a dentist.
"I would have applied to dental school after my
*The author is the editor of USC Health Sciences Publication.
8
DENTISTRY's ''R.aA.tL tBiItclL"
by Diane Foster*
third year of college if I had been aware that the profession was available to women," said Ms. Rest.
"Instead, I planned on teaching because it is a traditionally acceptable career for a woman."
Ms. Rest first entertained the notion of becoming
"Dr. Rest" when she watched her male college class-
not only high school but also college.
"By that time my twin boys were old enough-13
-to take care of themselves, and I felt I needed a
productive career to keep me happy. Since teaching
didn't satisfy me, my husband encouraged me to pursue my interest in dentistry. I investigated dental
DR. LYN KAGIHARA WORKING WITH A STUDENT IN USC DENTAL LABORATORY.
mates respond with excitement to their acceptances to
dental school. "Then I began to wonder, although not
very seriously, if there wasn't something more exciting
for me to do than teach," she said.
Ms. Rest tried teaching for a year and a half after
her 1971 graduation but considered her efforts unsuccessful. When she resumed-this time seriously-the
idea of becoming a dentist, she was discouraged from
applying to dental school.
"At least one professional counselor advised me
that my sex and my age would work against me. "
Ms. Rest says that this discouragement served as
her inspiration. I follow reverse psychology because
I have a need to prove myself, to achieve," she explained. "I was married and had two children when
I was in high school. People told me that I'd never
finish school-which made me determined to finish
TIC, OCTOBER, 1976
schools, found I met their requirements, and applied
to USc."
Now that Ms. Rest is learning about her future
profession, she is convinced that she and dentistry
make the perfect match.
"Dentistry fulfills the needs of my personality: I
like to work with my hands and I consider my work
art-certain aspects of dentistry are just like sculpture, I'm a perfectionist, I like to help make people
look better, and I like one-to-one relationships."
"just another dentist"
Women's liberationists would be proud of her, but
they might not embrace her. She achieved their goals
without celebrating their cause.
Dr. Lyn Kagihara of Palms, 28-year-old instructor
of operative dentistry at the University of Southern
TIC, OCTOBER, 1976
California (USC) School of Dentistry, considers herself just another dentist-not a female flaunting her
equality with males-and has quietly claimed a position of distinction in the predominantly male world
of dentistry.
She is one of only six women on the school's regular dental faculty, which totals 67 members.
In addition to teaching three days a week at the
school, Dr. Kagihara owns her own dental office where
she spends another three days a week. She employs
two associates, a man and a woman.
"It's not particularly unusual for a woman to own
a practice," she said, "although it is true that most
female dentists practice as associates with male l1artners. What is unusual is that I own a practice and
teach more than one day per week. Those who own
businesses usually must spend most of their time in
their offices."
In 1973 Dr. Kagihara purchased her office from
her previous employer, a man. "Being female was
somewhat of a liability at first," she said, "because
the patients were accustomed to a man in my position.
And my recent graduation and my youth provoked
further skepticism.
"However, I never considered that my success as a
dentist would be influenced, either positively or negatively, by my sex," she offered matter-of-factly. "I
like to involve my patients in their treatment-and
my students in their patient's treatment; I like to capitalize on an individual's strengths."
Dr. Kagihara feels that she can capitalize on her
own strengths at USc. "Teaching is what I do best,
but I would have difficulty teaching at a school that
favors different techniques," she admits. "USC offers
terrific dental training and also freedom for the student to develop his own style. USC gives the fundamentals, but their interpretations lie with the student,
as they will in his private practice."
Dr. Kagihara is a 1972 graduate of the USC School
of Dentistry, from which her father also was graduated.
"I always had an interest in the health sciences,"
she says. "It would be easy to say that I came to dentistry because my father was a dentist, but actually he
voted against my decision. At the time he began
practice, in 1931, dentistry entailed a great deal of
physical labor and he thought the physical demands
would be too great for me. Actually, it was my mother
who encouraged me to be a dentist."
A petite Japanese American, Dr. Kagihara agrees
with her father's feeling that the physical strength
formerly required in dentistry made it an unattractive
career for women. "However, modern technological
advancements have helped make dentistry feasible for
women," she explained. "Dentists now don't require
the strength to apply great pressure-;-the high speed
equipment we use supplies that. And we work sitting
9